Blood Red Shadows
Chapter 20: Act I, Chapter 19: Discovered Potential
Previous Chapter Next ChapterLife at Beacon was pretty much standard.
Alex had grown accustomed to not knowing where he would end up every night. So his readjustment into a predictable setting had been a long and arduous process.
For example, Alex was sitting at his seat between Vanoss and Wildcat, which would not be as claustrophobic if it wasn't for the fact that he was sitting across from Yang.
Eating his pancakes and bacon in silence, in contrast to...well, everyone else.
"Alright, Delirious. I think that you should take off the mask and the creepy-ass clown make-up for once." Vanoss joked.
"I don't do face reveals." Delirious retorted.
"Vanoss just got H-2-Owned!" Yang punned, much to everyone's utter disappointment.
"God dammit, Yang." Wildcat facepalmed, or rather, mask-palmed, as he wore that damn thing everywhere.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"That reminds me, I think I want to go get another..."
"Don't say it, Wildcat!" Vanoss groaned.
"...Pun-cake!" He finished.
Silence... What Alex thought as impossible, Wildcat actually succeeded in.
"...No. Just... No." Yang said in utter disappointment.
Alex finished his meal, eating what remained of his breakfast and drinking his chocolate milk in huge gulps.
"Well, this has been fun, but very awkward. If you don't mind, I'm going to try and find out what my Semblance is." Alex said.
"You still don't know? It's been a whole week!" Weiss asked, shocked.
"No, and it's much harder than it looks." Alex retorted.
"Good luck, Alex!" Ruby chimed.
And with that, Alex left to find a free training room.
Jesus, the training rooms were far away! Alex must've ran at least a mile, and that was before he got tired and walked the rest of the way, as he had been doing for the past 5 minutes.
Finally, he found an open training room, complete with training droids that they brought in from Atlas, which was pretty much a technological super-power.
Alex stepped in, as he did yesterday, and every day after he got here.
"Identified: Alex Walker, scan confirmed." A mechanical voice said.
"Previously selected: Basic attacks, moving onto battle simulation."
Other droids walked in, bearing shock gauntlets, one zap, and it would deliver an electric shock.
"Battle simulation in 3...2...1. Begin battle simulation."
The droids immediately attacked, Alex having to dodge and evade to avoid being struck by his opponents.
Alex evaded his opponents, delivering a kick or a hard punch, resulting in the droids telling Alex their health for the particular exercise.
"97% remaining."
"95% remaining."
"92% remaining."
Crap! A gauntlet almost hit Alex in the face, he dodged the attack, holding the droid's arm in place as he brought it down to his knee, a move that would result in breaking the opponent's arm.
"68% remaining, right arm critically damaged."
Alex redirected more of his opponent's blows before they could touch him, kicking away shock gauntlets and striking one of the droids' heads.
"89% remaining." It chimed.
Alex swept a leg underneath one of the droids, knocking it over. Grabbing it by the neck, he punched it in the back of the head and using it as a shield.
"76% remaining."
Alex picked up the droid, bringing it's back down to his knee, which would result in breaking an opponent's spine, paralyzing or killing them.
"0% remaining, critical damage to spinal cord."
Throwing the disabled droid at others, he took advantage of the opportunity and kicked one in the center of the chest.
"85% remaining."
Noticing another droid next to him, he delivered a barrage of punches, finishing it off with a strong kick.
"32% remaining."
Diving low, he grabbed another droid by the leg, pulling it to the ground and sent a foot to it's head.
"0% remaining, critical damage to skull and brain."
Two down, three to go.
Evading more blows, he spun behind them, snapping one of the droid's necks.
"0% remaining, critical damage to spinal cord."
The droid who's arm he broke swung the limp limb in his direction, using the arm to punch the other droid.
"58% remaining."
He punched the droid he held in the neck, finishing it off with a roundhouse kick that sent it to the ground.
"46% remaining."
One of the droids got up, swung hard, hitting Alex inthe chest and delivering a painful electrical shock.
He screamed in pain. Punching that droid hard in the face.
Needless to say, the outcome was not as he expected.
The droid was blown backwards in an onslaught of purple-hued lightning, he had discovered his Semblance!
He punched the ground, and sure enough, the droid was electrocuted in a burst of purple lightning underneath the floor.
"0% remaining, nervous system compromised."
Calmly, he walked to the last droid, who was struggling to get up, and Alex stepped hard on it's neck.
"0% remaining, spinal cord critically damaged."
So electricity manipulation was his Semblance. Intresting.
The droids got up and walked back to their places.
"Score: 97%. Recommended combat style: Arcamida."
Alex had read a bit on the combat forms in Remnant, instead of several styles with differing techniques, these were very broad and covered a specific form.
"Arcamida: the Aggression Form, focuses mostly on offense, meant to chain in Semblance attacks and brute strength in order to incapacitate the enemy. Recommended only for use on the field."
Alex figured it would say that, his style was usually dependent on killing an enemy, since Alex was constantly encountering them.
"Recommended Secondary Combat Style: Voikara."
Alex read exclusively on this form, he knew all about it.
"Voikara: The Evasion Form, focuses on agility and redirecting an opponent's attacks, leaving them open to counter-attack. Recommended for use on the field and in dueling scenarios."
Alex thought of something, why only use one form at a time, when he could blend both forms into one; a crippling offense and an unpredictable and sporadic defense? He could easily dodge an opponent's attack, disorient them with his lightning, and deliver a powerful blow to end duels quickly and efficiently.
Remembering Professor Ozpin's warning about his Aura, he figured he should focus on mostly Voikara techniques, and then use his semblance to knock them off balance, saving a powerful blow for when the opponent got tired.
"Previously selected: Battle Simulation, moving on to dueling scenario Level 1; sword sparring."
Another, considerably larger droid walked in with the Training Sword, which had similar effects to the Shock Gauntlets.
Alex grabbed his own Training Sword, grabbing it with both hands and holding it over his right shoulder.
"Beginning Duelling Scenario Level 1 in 3...2...1... Begin simulation."
Alex walked back into his dorm, tired after a long day of training. He opened the door, drained of most energy and figured it would be best if he drank something that would wake him up, like soda or coffee. Wait, no, just soda. He disliked coffee's bitter taste.
He grabbed his simple soda can, cracking open the can and drinking it in huge gulps.
He finished the soda rather quickly, tossing the can in the trash bin, he noticed something.
Where were Nogla and Terroriser?
Alex shrugged it off, they were probably hanging out with Vanoss.
Alex went to exit the room when he heard something coming from outside.
" YOU FOCKIN' BIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!!!!!"
Nogla crashed into the room through the window, sending splinters of glass all over the room.
"Hi, Nogla." Alex said in a neutral tone.
"Aw. We were aimin' for Ruby's room." Nogla whined, disappointed.
"Why are you aiming for Ruby's room, Nogla?" Alex asked, annoyed.
"Hold on. YOU WERE AIMIN' FOR MY ROOM, YOU PRICK!!!" Nogla yelled out the window. Alex looked outside to find Vanoss and the others with a giant slingshot.
"GOD DAMMIT!!!" Vanoss yelled from...200 yards? Yep, 200 yards.
Alex aimed for the tight group that formed near the slingshot. Letting a small ball of purple lightning form in his hands.
"What the hell is that?!" Nogla asked.
"You'll see..." Alex said.
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
NOW!
Alex threw his lightning ball at Delirious, who had been launched toward Ruby's window. The lightning ball met it's target, Delirious plummeting to the ground.
"NOOOOO!!! YOU BIIIIITCH!!!" Delirious screamed as his body met the ground, Vanoss and his crew laughing from all the way from where they were at.
"HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS AMAZING!" Vanoss yelled from below.
Alex walked out of the room, he had his fun, now to build his weapon. Grabbing the schematics for the device, he opened the door and walked out.
-Later that evening-
Yang sat in her bed, thinking to herself. It had been about a week or so since Alex Walker had arrived with his friends, and he hasn't once said anything about his personal life. And he always seemed so...distant, he was almost always training, that or he was alone in his dorm. In the few moments he was even around, he hardly even spoke.
Yang knew Alex had explained a lot to her younger half-sister, Ruby, as well as Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch. However none of them said anything. That settled it, tomorrow, she would ask him in private.
Regardless if he was in the mood or not.
-Meanwhile-
Alex couldn't sleep.
It was not uncommon. The nightmares still came to him. Visions of Winchester, Twilight, Sigma, everyone killing him. He couldn't tell another soul. Telling Ruby and the others seemed too risky. He told them all about the reasons for the nightmares coming to him, but not the result. It kept him awake at night. He knew one day it would slip. But not knowing who he would tell. It was worse now. He was actually dangerous. It was almost too much for him to bear.
But he was above self-pity. He could take it, Task Force Crimson wasn't a concern anymore, neither was Twilight. But not Sigma.
The mere name brought waves of guilt. He got to live while Karis was killed. He was a coward. That, at least, was a constant in this vast multiverse.
Next Chapter: Act I, Chapter 20: Revealing The Truth Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 10 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
Well, I figured I may as well have Vanoss have a 'funny moments' sort of thing at Beacon, like they'd do anything else.
